I'll Always Come Find You
by PanicMoon15
Summary: Skye gets hurt on a mission and needs surgery to fix her arm. The anaesthetic makes her distressed and there's only one person she wants to make her feel better; enter Mama May. So much fluff. Tooth-rotting fluff.


May sat next to Trip in the hospital waiting room, staring intently at a poster on the opposite wall listing the first indications of a stroke, and how to deal with it.

Trip sat quietly on the hard plastic chair next to her, and fiddled with his phone irritably, every so often, looking up at the clock.

Coulson paced impatiently around the small room. He was getting nervous, and though May's stillness did not appear to indicate that she too was nervous, she was. They all were. How could she not be? Her Skye was hurt and they didn't really have a clue as to what was going on.

She'd passed out before May had even managed to get to her, and within fifteen minutes of the incident, doctors had taken Skye away from her to work on her arm. She hadn't seen her since. An orderly had shown them to the waiting room, told them they'd keep them posted on Skye's progress, then had left. No one had kept them posted.

Fucking state hospitals.

May simply had a different way of coping with her stress at a time like this than pacing Coulson and fidgeting Trip. Reading the poster seemed to currently be the best way of calming her nerves, and goddamnit was she going to be ready when one of them had a stroke. Melinda had memorised the poster a good twenty minutes ago, now reading it was simply the act keeping her most calm.

Coulson stopped pacing in front of her, blocking May's view of the poster. "What _happened_?" he asked for the third time, running a hand through his hair. "How did this happen?"

"You know how it happened." May pointed out. "We watched it happen from the van." May and Coulson had been running surveillance for Skye and Trip on a mission that absolutely should not have gone south. "They went in and they were waiting for them, and Skye was in the wrong place at the wrong time and she got knocked down the fire escape."

Coulson sighed. "We should have been there."

"I know." May agreed.

"It's my fault." Trip said quietly. "I'm sorry, I-,"

"Trip," Coulson placed a hand on his shoulder, "this is _not_ your fault, okay? I mean, at least Skye didn't get shot…again."

May glared at him.

"What?" Phil asked. "I'm trying to be positive. At least it's just a broken arm, and not a GSW."

"A really horrific broken arm. She still had to have surgery." May grumbled.

"I could see her bones." Trip grimaced. He shook himself off. "How long does surgery like that take, anyway?" He asked, looking between his two superiors. "She's been in there for hours."

Coulson smiled. "It can be a while. It really depends." He thought back to the surgeries Barton had gotten himself into and the hours he'd waited with Romanoff in waiting rooms. "Hey, Trip, why don't you go back to the bus." Phil suggested. "Explain what happened to the others, in person. We'll let you know what's happening."

Trip looked as though he might protest, until Coulson squeezed his arm. "Okay, boss. You just call me, let us know when she's out."

Phil nodded his assurance and May gave Trip a half-smile as he left the room.

"She'll be fine." Phil assured himself, taking up his room pacing again. "Skye's tough. If two shots to the gut doesn't kill her, this sure as hell won't."

"Will you _stop_ bringing up Quinn shooting her?" May hissed. She didn't like to think about those hellish days of Skye on a ventilator at the best of times, so she most certainly did not want to be reminded of them when she was already edgy.

"Sorry."

"She just broke her arm because some dick with a complex pushed her down a flight of stairs. This is _nothing_ like last time she was in a hospital."

"We'll have to keep her out of the field for a while." Phil mused, pausing in front of May. "How fast do think she can type with one arm in a cast?"

May gave him a 'don't you fucking start or I will punch you in the face' look, and a doctor entering the room cut off any further discussion. Phil whipped around and May stood, attentive to the surgeon.

"Skye's family?" She asked, smiling at them warmly.

"Yes." May answered before Phil could even open his mouth.

"Well, everything went beautifully." The doctor grinned and May let the relief wash over her as Phil physically slumped slightly next to her. _Beautifully_. An odd choice of words but it was doing wonders to put Melinda at ease. "Skye's in recovery now, they'll be waking her up in just a minute."

"So it was all fine?" Coulson asked. "She's okay?"

"Of course. Her arm was quite a mess when she came in-,"

"Yeah, I know." May mumbled, stomach turning slightly at the image of Skye's radius peeking through a laceration in her skin.

The doctor nodded solemnly but her smile remained unforced and firmly in place. "But like I said, everything went just as well as I'd hoped. Although she's going to be setting off the metal detectors in the airport from now on."

"I'm just glad Skye's okay." Coulson said, more to May than the doctor, but the medical professional nodded too.

"Can we see her?" May asked, priorities firmly on Skye.

"It's only one to a bedside while she wakes up, I'm afraid," the surgeon said, looking between May and Phil, "but I can take you both to the ward."

The surgeon walked them to the ward on which Skye would unfortunately be staying for a least another twenty-four hours, and led Phil and May to one of the nurses, bidding them goodbye.

"Skye's in the cubicle at the end of the hall." The nurse informed them. "Only one of you can go in, just until we get her settled, so who…?" she looked between Coulson and May, who simply looked at each other in question.

Another of the nurses walked purposefully towards them from Skye's room. He nodded at the nurse who stood with them and turned to May and Coulson. "Skye's parents?" He questioned, them immediately nodded to himself without letting either of them answer. "Good. We've just woken up Skye and she's a _little_ bit distressed. Side effect of the anaesthetic." He assured. "She's asking for her Mom."

Melinda frowned at Coulson who was obviously suppressing a smirk.

"You better go, Mel." Phil nudged her and she felt herself blindly following the male nurse towards Skye's room.

May felt her heart constrict at the sight of her Skye, lying in the white sheets, several people swarming around her in an attempt to calm her down. She was pulling at the nasal cannula on her face, whimpering whenever one of the nurses attempted to replace the oxygen line. Skye's skin was pale and her arm was strapped up in a sling.

"You have to leave this on, Skye. Okay?" One of the nurses was saying, sticking the cannula to Skye's cheeks with some micro-pore.

"No! No, don' want it!" Skye slurred, whipping her head from side to side.

Skye's glazed eyes fell on Melinda and her face lit up, arm falling from her face and leaving the tubes alone. She reached out with her good arm and made a grabby hand at May, drawing a smile from the woman at her adorableness.

"All better now, see. Mom's here." The nurse at her bedside said.

"Yeah." Skye agreed and made the grabby hand again.

"We'll leave you two." The bedside nurse ushered her colleagues out of the room, before stopping to address May. "She'll fall asleep again soon enough and once she's rested off the anaesthesia she'll be back to her normal self." The nurse left and closed the door behind her, leaving only Skye and May in the room.

"You okay?" May asked quietly, moving over to Skye's bed and perching on the edge.

Skye didn't answer, but grabbed her hand and pulled May further onto the bed so that she could snuggle into her side. May smiled and stroked Skye's bangs away from her face. The girl smiled sleepily.

"How's your arm?" May asked, settling herself on the bed next to Skye properly, careful not to jostle the IV in her uninjured arm.

"Mmm,…" Skye half-heartedly mumbled, eyes drooping shut as she spoke. "M'tired, Mama."

Melinda continued to stroke Skye's hair, swallowing past the lump in her throat. She pressed her nose into the crown of Skye's hair. "I know, baby. Go to sleep." She whispered, and pressed a kiss to Skye's head.

"Don't go, Mama." Skye slurred, the remnants of the anaesthetic making their appearance.

May stroked her cheek with a gentle finger. "I promise, I'll stay right here."

Skye nodded and her eyes fell shut. A little frown appeared between her eyes. "Mama?"

"Yes, baby?"

"I fell down th'stairs. Mama. T'hurt."

Melinda smiled and supressed a giggle at poor drugged-up Skye's expense. She'd probably never remember any of this. Good job Hunter or Trip weren't there, Melinda thought, they'd probably be filming it all for blackmail purposes.

"I know you fell, I saw." May said.

"M'arm got a booboo."

"I know, honey." May kissed her cheek. "But it's fixed now. Good to sleep, baby."

"S'fixed now." Skye assured herself, and turned her head, pressing it more firmly into May's chest. "Night now, Mama. Kay?"

"Okay."

Eyes still closed, words slurred from the drugs and muffled by May's shirt, Skye continued to talk herself to sleep.

"Planes go high, huh?" She commented. "Likes planes. Mama likes planes, huh? In the sky. High in th'sky." Skye sang. "Mama likes sky. Skye likes'sky. Huh?"

"Yeah. Mama loves the Skye." May kissed her cheek and continued to agree with Skye until the words drifted into even breathing, and it became obvious that sleep had won out.

Melinda lay with Skye, holding her close for another ten minutes or so, until there was a gentle knock at the door, and Coulson peeked his head through. He smiled at the sight before him, and edged into the room, softly closing the door.

"That's cute." He smirked.

"Shut up." May mumbled, but she smiled at him.

"She okay?" Phil asked, stroking the back of Skye's cheek with two fingers, before pulling back and settling himself in the chair on the other side of her bed.

"Yeah. She's okay. Talking a whole bunch of crap though, before she fell asleep." She smirked at Phil. "It was pretty amusing."

"Anything of note?" He asked.

May shrugged, looking back down at the sleeping Skye.

Coulson nodded. "So," he smiled, "the nurses told me she calmed right down once she saw her _Mama_."

May kept her eyes on Skye. "She was so drugged up, she didn't have a clue what she was saying, poor thing."

"I think she knew who she needed to see." Phil said poignantly enough that May had to look at him.

"I'm not her mother." She said quietly, the words leaving a bitter feel on her tongue.

Phil scoffed. "Oh you _so _are."

"What?"

"Come on, Mel. You might not be biologically bound to Skye, but there is _no one_ who loves that kid more than you. Admit it."

"She's not a kid, she's twenty-four." May reminded him.

"Yeah, a twenty-four year old kid. Mel," Phil said quietly, "Skye loves you so much, and you know as well as I do that a strong dose of anaesthesia is just as effective as a bit of truth serum."

May looked at Phil sceptically. She sighed and looked back down to Skye. Her eyelids fluttered in her sleep.

"She loves you, too, you know." May reminded him.

Phil smiled warmly. "And I love her. But I'm not the once cuddling in bed with her…Mama."

"I will murder you." May muttered with a smirk, her grip on Skye tightened just a little bit and she pressed her nose to her temple.

"Honestly, Mel, I don't doubt it."

….

Skye awoke to a dull aching in her arm, a dry throat and stinging eyes. It took her well over a minute to de-fog her thoughts enough to remember where she was, but when no images of falling asleep in her bunk came to mind, the panic set in and she opened her eyes and sat up with a start.

"Hey, hey, it's okay." A familiar voice soothed, and Skye looked around to see May, crouched by her bedside, face inches from hers. "Skye, you're in hospital. You're okay. You're fine." May brushed a hand over her cheek and memories of before she had fallen asleep began assaulting her mind.

"I fell down the stairs." She croaked and coughed a little to clear her voice. May appeared a second later with a cup and straw she pressed against Skye's lips. The water helped clear her thoughts as well as her throat and Skye frowned, stopping drinking. "He pushed me down the stairs." She said again, to May.

"Yeah." May agreed, and sat herself on the edge of Skye's bed. "You broke your arm." She smiled sadly. "It was pretty bad and they had to operate, but you're okay now."

"I'm okay, now." Skye mumbled. She paused for a few seconds, eyes remaining on May's face, and blurry memories that might have been dreams drifted into consciousness. "I was scared when I woke up. You weren't there." Skye admitted, feeling exceedingly stupid as soon as the words left her mouth, but May brushed her fingers through Skye's bangs and that felt really nice, and May didn't look mad.

"Do you remember after you woke up from surgery, then?" May asked.

Skye blushed. The memories were a little jumbled and little like she was experiencing them underwater, but they were clearing gradually, and Skye was suddenly embarrassed.

"I was scared." She mumbled. "And I asked for you and you came." May smiled at her encouragingly, still carding her fingers through her hair. "Then I felt better because you were there. It wasn't so scary."

"Yeah." May nodded. "I'll always come find you, you know that?"

Skye didn't know that, but she nodded anyway.

"Skye?" May said firmer. "I promise, I will _always_ come find you when you need me. Okay?"

The look in May's eyes was one Skye had seen before. It meant 'there is no arguing on this topic', which was good, because Skye wanted May to be right about this.

"I'm sorry." Skye said quietly. "That I called…called you…" She sighed in frustration. This was too mortifying to admit to her S.O.

"It's okay, Skye." May said gently. "You don't need to apologise."

"I don't?"

"No." May glanced away for a second, but she was smiling when she looked back. "You can call me that whenever you want. Okay?"

Skye grinned. "Kay."

"Now," May kissed Skye's forehead and looked at her seriously, "let's see about breaking you out of this joint."

"I'm ready to go home." Skye smiled.

"Me, too."

May made to stand up, but Skye reached out with her good hand and pulled her back down to lay her head next to hers on the pillow.

"I love you, Mama." Skye whispered.

May kissed her nose. "I love you, too, baby girl."


End file.
